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The Muppets' Wizard Of Oz
The Muppets' Wizard Of Oz is a musical television film that is a modernized adaptation of The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, but it adapts plot elements from L. Frank Baum's original novel rather than the 1939 MGM film. The film was directed by Kirk Thatcher and starring Ashanti and the Muppets with supporting roles done by Jeffrey Tambor, Quentin Tarantino, David Alan Grier, and Queen Latifah. It was produced by Bill Barretta and written by Debra Frank, Steve L. Hayes, Tom Martin, and Adam F. Goldberg. Plot Dorothy Gale is an orphaned teenage girl living in a trailer park in Kansas. Her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry own a diner, to which Dorothy works for room and board. Her dream of becoming a singer is slim, but when waiting on some truckers, Dorothy overhears that the Muppets are conducting a cross-country show called "Star Hunt" and are looking for a backup singer. Em disapproves, but with Henry's best wishes, she goes to the audition. However, the Muppets are about to end the audition, and Dorothy only manages to give them a demo CD that she created beforehand, just before they drive off. When Dorothy returns home, she gets in a fight with her aunt because of going to the audition. However, the civil defense sirens sound as a tornado is headed for the trailer park. When Em and Henry run into the county storm shelter for safety, Dorothy hurries to get her pet king prawn Toto who lives in a fish bowl on her nightstand table, she had rescued him from Em's diner. Dorothy adopted a prawn because she wasn't allowed to have a dog, since Em objects to dogs, because she says they smell funny and mess up the carpet. She does not make it out in time, and the two are swept across the vast fields of Kansas by the tornado, which sends them to the land of Oz, where Toto becomes a giant anthropomorphic prawn who speaks English with a Spanish accent. When Dorothy and Toto climb out of the wreckage, they discover that they are in Munchkinland, and after discussing her situation with the town's people, the munchkins, she learns that the land's ruler the wizard, has the power to grant her wish of becoming a famous singer. She meets the good witch of the north, and receives a pair of magic silver slippers from the wicked witch of the east, the witch of the north's sister who was killed when Dorothy's trailer fell on her. Soon after, she embarks on a journey with Toto on the yellow brick road to meet the wizard of Oz, who lives in the emerald city, the capital of Oz. On her journey, she meets three creatures: a scarecrow, a tin thing, and a cowardly lion. They are also seeking the wizard of Oz to give them a brain, heart, and courage, respectively. The group meets various obstacles involving a deep gorge where the kalidah critics are heckling them and a Poppy Field Club run by Clifford which nearly puts them to sleep. After arriving at the emerald city and meeting the wizard, Dorothy and her friends are sent to retrieve the wicked witch of the west's magic eye, a tool she uses to see anything she desires in the land of Oz. The group assumes that completing this task will result in the granting of their wishes. The wicked witch of the west sees them coming and consults with her pet Foo-Foo and her henchman Johnny Fiama. When the wicked witch of the west plans to have either her pack of 40 great wolves, a flock of 40 crows, and a swarm of black bees to do away with them, Johnny tells her that the animals that work for her are unavailable due to personal reasons. This forces her to resort to using her magic biker cap to call the flying monkeys to deal with them. The witch and the flying monkeys capture Dorothy and the lion, while the scarecrow and the tin thing are dismantled by the flying monkeys. After being threatened to be killed by her, Toto calls the munchkins, who set Dorothy free and hold up the witch. During the final battle, Dorothy does a powerful kick on the witch and sends her into her own "bottled water bath" which contains tap water to which she is severely allergic. This action causes the wicked witch of the west to melt, and with the wicked witch of the west dead, Dorothy finds the magic eye unharmed and floating in the tub and grabs it. Dorothy gains control of the flying monkeys by giving back the group's magic biker cap to Sal Minella. She has the scarecrow and the tin thing rebuilt by the flying monkeys. Then she and her friends travel back to the emerald city to have their wishes granted. When they all storm into the wizard's room, they discover it is merely a Hollywood effects stage and that the wizard is just an ordinary man who is a tour bus driver that managed to amaze everybody with a simple magic trick. He asked for the witch's eye so that she could not see him for who he really was. Even so, he still proceeds to grant their wishes. Dorothy finally becomes a singer in the land of Oz, but she realizes that is a scam and cuts her song short, since all she ever really wanted was to go back home and be with her family. After traveling back to Munchkinland, she meets Glinda the good witch of the south, who tells her that if she clicks her heels together three times, she will be able to go anywhere she desires, she does so by saying "take me home to Aunt Em". She is then spun by the slippers' charm into Kansas, and upon returning, she rushes into the diner to apologize to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. Much to Dorothy's surprise, she finds out that Kermit is waiting there for her, since he was looking for her, saying that she had the best voice they heard on the whole search, and that she has been chosen to go on the Star Hunt. Dorothy feels that she is not ready to leave Kansas to become a real star and rejects the offer, but Aunt Em finally gives her blessing for Dorothy to pursue her dreams and says that she wants her to go with the Muppets on their Star Hunt, much to her even bigger surprise. She then sings "Good Life" on television with them as the film ends. Cast of characters Ashanti as Dorothy Gale Queen Latifah as Aunt Emily Gale David Alan Grier as Uncle Henry Gale Jeffrey Tambor as the wizard of Oz Quentin Tarantino as himself Pepé the king prawn as Toto Kermit the frog as himself and the scarecrow Gonzo the great as himself and the tin thing Fozzie Bear as himself and the cowardly lion Rizzo the rat as himself and the mayor of Munchkinland Miss Piggy as herself, the wicked witch of the east, the good witch of the north, the wicked witch of the west, and Glinda the good witch of the south Trivia The Kansas scenes are presented in de-saturated color, which is a reference to the sepia-tinted black-and-white Kansas scenes from the 1939 MGM film. The people of Oz are based on people that Dorothy meets in Kansas, but when she is sent back home, she is still wearing the clothes that she wore while in Oz. There wasn't an official film-specific soundtrack album CD with the five original songs that were created for the film: "Kansas", "When I'm With You", "It's A Good Life", "The Witch Is In The House", and "Nap Time". However, these songs from the film were released on a CD that included all of the Muppets' best songs from The Muppet Show. Category:Movies Category:The Wizard Of Oz